As the Christmas season approaches, I have been taking some time to ponder the spirit of giving that surrounds this time of the year. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, God gave the world the greatest gift it would ever know. Our Heavenly Father gave us a gift to save us from our sins.

As we make our plans for Thanksgiving this year – whether we are visiting family far away or hosting others in our own homes, we must not forget to spend time reflecting on what the Lord has done for us in the past year. This could be a discipleship moment when you lead the younger family members to think about which blessings from God are most important to us.

During the September meeting of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina’s Board of Directors, we had the privilege of honoring and recognizing my friend and colleague Jerry Wallace for his many years of service to both Campbell University and North Carolina Baptists.

As the seasons begin to change and fall arrives, I look forward with great anticipation to our Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting, scheduled for Nov. 2-3, is now less than a month away, and if you have not made plans to attend, I hope that you will join us in Greensboro in a few short weeks.

Pastors play a significant role in lives of their congregations and their communities. Serving as an under-shepherd to God’s flock in the local church is a calling that brings with it great rewards, but also many challenges. All things considered, I think the stress and pressure many pastors operate under today make it one of the most difficult vocations in our culture.

One of the things that Gloria and I enjoy hearing and learning about as we travel across our great state are the many different missions and ministry activities that our Baptist associations are engaged in.
The 78 Baptist associations here in North Carolina have the opportunity and responsibility to play a vital role in reaching people with the gospel and helping them grow in their faith as disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you ask people to name some characteristics and qualities that distinguish followers of Christ from other people, you are likely to get a wide-range of responses. People are likely to name some things that people should do and things they should not do in their description of a Christian.

One of the greatest joys in my life is to see a child grow in their understanding of the things of God and come to express a genuine growing faith in Jesus Christ.
The Bible is clear that Jesus loved children. During His earthly ministry, Jesus often called little children to Himself.

When I speak about creating a disciple-making culture in churches across our state, I often talk about the changing face of North Carolina.
While we have a mandate to go into all the world, we are also seeing the world come to us from places that we know have little or no gospel witness.

North Carolina Baptists, as a whole, have always believed, and continue to affirm, God’s design for marriage as recorded in scripture. Marriage, as defined by God, is between one man and one woman.
While our culture, and now the U.

In all of the 34 years that I have had the privilege of attending the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, I have not experienced anything like the national call to prayer for spiritual awakening that took place at this year’s meeting in Columbus, Ohio.

Our state convention strategy of “impacting lostness through disciple-making” is not just for individuals older than 25. Many of our North Carolina Baptist middle, high school, college and seminary students will be giving up a leisurely, summer vacation in order to spend their time away from school investing in God’s Kingdom through a number of summer mission and ministry opportunities.

Father’s Day is a time to celebrate and honor noble fathers and the godly father figures in our lives. As Father’s Day approaches, many of us are thinking about the huge impact that these men have left on us. While our culture dictates that wealth and prestige determine one’s success, the impact and influence of godly fathers goes far beyond this temporary life.

It is so easy to go throughout our day without pausing to reflect on all the freedoms that we enjoy in this great nation. But on Memorial Day, we are encouraged to take the time to remember that these freedoms came with great sacrifice.
Since the founding of this country, men and women have paid the ultimate price so that we might have the privilege of living in a state of freedom and be active participants in our government and society.

ABOUT THE BIBLICAL RECORDER
Since 1833 the Biblical Recorder has served North Carolina Baptists as the Baptist State Convention's official news journal - with the emphasis on news. The paper was founded by Thomas Meredith, an early pastor, writer and denominational statesman in North Carolina.